Let us save old school
Hooray! That excellent television series, Restoration, is back with Restoration Village championing the restoration and re-use of old buildings, to benefit the communities they are at the heart of. This is a great time to take this excellent example of real progress - so what is Dudley Council doing?
They've activated the planning application for, "demolition of existing building (former school) - replaced with new residential development". Which former school? Only Mount Pleasant School, Coseley, that's all!
This is to fatten up the site to maximise the land value (around £500,000) which they would take out of Coseley. Those against this, should write saying why they object to planning application P06/0074 and send it to Mr Chris Cheetham, Principal Planning Officer, Dudley MBC, 3 St James's Road, Dudley, DY1 1HZÊ(the application can be inspected there), as soon as possible.
The historic school has always been at the heart of its community (even being used for wedding receptions) and remains so as the Archives and Local History Centre, putting Coseley on the map. This is why the school is so important that it must stay.
Also, with its 1913 extensions being the oldest remaining Coseley Council buildings, it's the closest thing we have to Coseley Council House - probably the only pre-1966 merger council house in the Black Country to have been demolished.
It's time the Council's attitude to Coseley moved further on from those bad old days of the 1960s, when many historic buildings were demolished, and for positive thinking on our heritage.
It's time for the council to allow us, the Board of Coseley Civic Trust, to raise Lottery money to restore the historic school and turn it into a civic and heritage centre for Coseley with or without the archives.
John Wilkes, Chairman, Coseley Civic Trust, The Paddock, Coseley.
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